Ms. Laura Bulgarelli

Biography

Ms. Laura Bulgarelli is a senior financial and administrative professional in higher education and has almost 20 years of experience on university and academic medical campuses in a senior management or executive role. For the past three years, she has been Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. During this period she has focused on launching and sustaining new initiatives for the growing campus, including: new housing contracts and negotiations, new academic program expansions and revenue streams, budget dissemination and reporting, campus makerspace property acquisitions, purchasing and risk management services expansion and a successful capital infrastructure proposal for a new academic building. Her financial and budgetary oversight increased beyond $100M while new student enrollment grew on average beyond 10% annually. Growth management was a key focus while reducing core annual operating costs simultaneously of at least $500K for the Tri-Cities campus.

Prior to her time at WSU, Laura was Associate Dean of Finance and Administration at the Case School of Engineering, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio for more than four years. While at Case Western Reserve University, Laura was responsible for an annual operating budget exceeding $100M and new infrastructure and capital budget proposals beyond $50M. Her tenure was during a time of significant growth and capital expansion, including: increasing enrollments, new research faculty, new industry research revenues, new laboratories and endowment funds. At the same time, her direct efforts and responsibility to reduce the operating bottom line led to a favorable impact of $2M annually.

Encouraging and managing growth, collaboratively creating strategies and plans that generate new funding while supporting the educational, research, and community missions are Laura’s self-described core professional principles. Laura earned her Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering and Master's degree in Health Systems from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She practiced as an Industrial Engineer and Internal Consultant in healthcare and academic medical centers for almost 10 years before later transitioning into finance and operations on university campuses. Her additional university experiences include UCLA, Loyola University Chicago and California State University, Los Angeles.

On a personal note, Laura has two adult daughters in the performing arts. Both of her children are professional dancers, singers, choreographers and teachers. Laura has the highest regard for San Francisco State University and considers it an outstanding institution of quality, access and integrity in higher education. Laura is enthusiastically looking forward to meeting everyone at San Francisco State University and discovering more about how she can contribute, guide and build the campus toward its future.